Weekend update

Things are moving very slowly, which I'm tempted to attribute to Italian far niente, but it's probably just the usual hassles and discomforts of starting a household from scratch almost anywhere.

First the bad news: the gas has still not been turned on and we are still living without heat or hot water. While we're not exactly used to it, we are learning to cope, but only because we're convinced that the aptly named ENEL (pronounced, more or less, "anal") will any day now live up to their promises of a week ago.

One thing that does seem very Italian is the opacity of public-serving agencies. Yesterday when Pam called the ENEL 800 number through which she'd ordered the gas on our behalf a week ago, the person who answered told her that she had no access to information about our order or anyone else's. You'll have to call a different number, she told Pam. But she claimed to have no idea what that number might be. Nor is it listed on the ENEL web site or anywhere else. Cosa sai fare?

Similarly, the other day Pam and I went to register Danny and me with the garbage service and obtain our various recycling bins (organic; paper and cardboard; plastic, glass, and metal; and "indifferenziata," which means "undifferentiated" but we like to think of as "who cares?"). We went to three different offices around town that seemed like they ought to know, but none of them was sure where we should go. When at last we located the right office, it was closed for lunch and, apparently, the rest of the week. On Monday we'll try again. Meanwhile, we're sneaking our garbage into our neighbors' bins.

In the meantime Danny and I are making do with sponge baths and meals prepared on a single (electric) burner. Luckily the weather has warmed--it's now in the 40s and 50s instead of the 20s and 30s, and when the sun makes an occasional appearance the rooms on the front of the apartment become downright livable. So we are uncomfortable but no longer miserable. That's progress.

We also had an electrician in, who assured us that our plans for what to put where in our kitchen will work with the existing wiring, without the need to break through walls or any other major expense. He declared himself ready to start on the work as soon as we are ready, so we just have to finalize our plans and decide which light fixtures go where.

Another accomplishment: we've bought a stove and a clothes dryer. The same brother-sister team that delivered our refrigerator in November arrived with the two new items yesterday. They are a volatile pair who struggled mightily trying to figure out how to put the dryer on top of the washer, yelling "Cazzo!" and "Madonna puttana!" at each other or the appliances, I'm not sure which. Danny and I had to intervene and show them that the problems they'd encountered could be readily solved by following the instructions, which were helpfully presented in pictograms as well as Italian and English. At last the job was done and after the pair departed we celebrated by drying a load of laundry.

The Trattoria San Giorgio menu

Yesterday I also ordered up internet and phone for the apartment. I can't wait to see what kind of unforeseen hassles this will entail. For now we are making do with a wifi hotspot, so at least we are not waiting internet-less for yet another Italian company to come through for us.

As usual, food remains a consistent source of happiness. We strolled over to a very unprepossessing restaurant not far from our place, in a shabby building with blacked-out windows. But inside was a sweet little trattoria serving solid home cooking to a crowd of office types and laboring men. The menu is posted on a board in front.

You get a primo (for us, good tortellini in broth and okay bucatini amitriciana), a secondo (an ill-advised cutlet Milanese, which turned out to be a rather anemic schnitzel, and a much more satisfactory vitello tonnato), a contorni (a salad of radicchio for me, a mixed salad with tomatoes and carrots for Danny), two glasses each of house wine, a bottle of water, and a tangerine for each of us--all for 13 euros, about $16 at the moment.

The restaurant was clearing out by the time we got there

Fancier places charge about the same price just for a plate of pasta, so this qualifies as a deal. The food is basic home cooking, nothing more, but to us basic Italian home cooking is still pretty exciting. And the atmosphere of the place was delightful. We are already looking forward to going back.

Oh, a further bonus: the restaurant is warm. Several of the kebab places we've patronized are so chilly that all the diners keep their coats on. Right now a budget meal in a heated room feels pretty special.